So I stole this tag from Journey Bloomfield (actually she told me to consider myself Officially Tagged, so I didn't have to steal it . . . but stealing is fun anyway 😝) and it looked like a lot of fun! Now, I'm not currently writing despondent fantasies where I drag my poor charries through the mud and briar patches, but since my current characters are all soldiers, there's a lot of things I can still do to them. *rubs hands and chuckles in villainous glee* *characters give me concerned looks* *clears throat and smiles not innocently*

Ahem, anyway . . . we're gonna (mostly) follow the rules here . . . except I'm using both of my WIPs: Yesterday Was Long Ago, featuring my Vietnam War Marines, and Motto of Glory, with my WWII Italian paratroopers. (And yes, this is the first official mention you've gotten of either WIP on here, so BOOM! 💥)

THE OUTLINE:

• Link back to whoever tagged you.
• Link back to the original tag.
• Share the Graphic below on your blog.
• Share one hilarious fact about your WIP.
• Share what at least four of your characters (the Main Character, the Villain, the Lovable–or perhaps Sarcastic or whatever their personality is—Side Character, and A Character of Your Choosing) would think of you.
• Tag at least five people who would enjoy taking part (you can tag more if you want).

Hilarious fact about my WIP

YWLA: I actually have two hilarious facts about this one . . .

1.) One of the characters is inspired by my orange cat, and;

2.) You can blame this book on my boss! It was previously just a floaty little idea of a plot bunny tucked away in the back of my head. Then my boss (as you know I work for a board game company) said he wanted a Combat! Vietnam game, and my brother, being all on board with that, started researching Vietnam. Naturally when he's doing research he infodumps on me, and I realized "oh yeah! I have that Vietnam plot bunny back there somewhere" so I brought it out, cleaned off all the cobwebs, and started working.

MOG: I don't think I have any truly hilarious facts about this one . . . it was inspired by the 1954 movie Divisione Folgore, but that's more interesting than hilarious. I guess the funniest thing about it so far is that I took one of my brother's GI Joes for the character of the sergente - or maybe the fact that all the guys are making jokes about the chaplain (who's a non-combatant, btw) being the most feared soldier in the Italian army.

What four seven of my characters think of me

1.) The Main Character

YWLA: Sergeant Steven Parker--- *gets cut off mid-sentence as someone tosses her out of the chair, Steven sits down and takes the mic*

Steven: Hi, folks, Sgt. Parker here - United States Marine Corps. I have to admit that I'm conflicted about my author. On the one hand, she's given me a pretty good squad to work with; on the other hand, I've heard she has some pretty mean plans about what she's going to do to some of them. I don't take too kindly to people messing with my squad. She better not kill off too many of my men, though. *glares meaningfully* At least she's made me a stronger character than some of her previous MCs; she describes me as a mix of my dad and Sgt. Saunders from Combat! - which, considering that they're two of my biggest heroes, I can't complain about that. *hands mic to young paracadutista*

MOG: Ettore: She's makin' things happen too slow. It's the third chapter already, and we're still just sittin' around at the training school, waitin' for a chance to get in some action. *pauses* I don't wanna say too much, 'cause it's war and we don't wanna give information to the enemy - *(Phoebs whispers - "That's called spoilers, Ettore!")* - right, what she said. She told me she's got a lot of bad things planned for me and my cousin, and she said we don't want that to happen any time soon. Angelo agreed with her about that, but I told him the sooner it happens, the sooner we get it over with. *folds arms and gives Phoebs a Meaningful Look*

2.) The Villain

YWLA: Castello: Hey, why's everybody pushin' me toward the mic? I'm no villain! *shrugs* Oh well, I guess it's a good thing to complain about the author anyway. See, she's like the lieutenant - she's biased against me. I'm just tryin' to do my job and maybe get some promotion, but oh no, she's gotta make me look like the bad guy, 'cause goody two-shoes Parker is her pet.

*Lt. Corbin has been scowling, now he grabs the mic away from Castello* Shut up, Castello! That's enough whining from you!

*muffled noises of an argument as Corbin drags him out of the room*

MOG: *silence as there really isn't a villain*

3.) The Lovable/Sarcastic/Whatever Side Character

YWLA: *there's a small scuffle before Rory snatches the mic* Yeah, I got nothin' against the author. She said herself that she likes me, and so what if she says I'm a stupid teenager? It's better than bein' called idiot box. *pokes his buddy Reg* Besides, she pretty much lets me have my own way with stuff - she says I'll get hurt, but I don't care. And she gave me a great squad to be pals with. She says I'm inspired by her cat, which doesn't make sense . . . ? I mean, I don't run around makin' weird noises and randomly hugging walls. I just wish she'd make me the automatic rifleman in my fire team.

*Reg snickers* *Rory turns, drops the mic, and they start having a friendly shoving match*

MOG: Micci: *sniffs the microphone and barks a few times before Angelo pulls her away*

4.) Character of Choice

YWLA: *Phoebs retrieves microphone from floor* Seems like y'all have decided to take this post away from me. But since you guys were fighting for the floor over the last point, I'm gonna choose for this one, because it's character of choice anyway. So . . . *surveys lineup of Marines* *tense silence* You, Petey! YOU GET THE MIC!!!

*Petey gives her concerned look, but takes the mic* Umm . . . I'm not really sure what I should say here . . . I don't really mind the author, even if - well, never mind about that . . . . At least she gave me a good squad and a great sergeant, and she said things are supposed to work out in the end. I'd rather there weren't quite so many things that have to be worked out, but-- *shrugs and hands mic back*

MOG: *quickly hands microphone to Gabriele before the others can start clamoring*

Gabriele: *clears throat* Well, I know the author means well, and she's doin' her best to write about us. I'm glad she decided pretty early not to kill me off; not that I'm afraid of death, but I'd rather stay around for my fellow paracadutisti. But I don't see why she decided to create a joke about me bein' the most fearsome soldier in the Italian army - I'm just a chaplain, I don't even carry a weapon!

And now here comes the difficult part where I have to tag people, waaahhh!! I don't know 5 bloggers (but who cares because we writers can't count), so imma tag 3 instead (including the usual 2 culprits):

Katja @Little Blossoms for Jesus

Miss Special @She Kinda Writes

Savannah @History Redeemed

And if you want to steal the tag, go ahead! But I will not Officially Tag you, so you HAVE to claim theft. 😈